Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-10-21
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Notes on the Lesson for October
lG-" Power to Forgive
Sins"

| from the Chicago Standard. BY Rev, j. NJ.
Coon
The subject for this lesson may be found in
! the first eight verses of the ninth chapter OF
Matthew Time, summer of A ID. ~ Place,
/ Capernaum, after crossing the sea from the
| Gadarenes.
| SPECIAL MENTION.
| Tie palsy Many intirm!ties were included
under the general name of palsy in tho New
! Testament. l. The paraytlc shock, affecting
the whole body 2. The hemiplegy, affecting
only one side of the body; the most frequent
form of the disease. j. The parapegy, at
fecung all the system below the neck. 4.
The catalepsy. This is caused by n contrac-
ton of the muscles i'll the whole or part of
| the body, and is very dangerous. The effects
are very violent and fatal. For instance, if,
when q person is struck he happens to have
| his hand extended, he is unable to draw it
| back; if not extended, he Is unable TO stretch
it out 1t gradually becomes diminished i'll
size, and dried up in appearance Hence ), it
| D. l he cramp This, in Eastern countries, Is
| fearful malady, and by no means unfre-
| quent 1t originates from chills in the night.
| The limbs when seized by it remain urmov-
.tpic, anu Viz pei SUI uLiCVcu WIN ~ Icscll-
bles one undergoing torture This was
| probably the disease of the servant of the
centurion Matt. s: 6; Luke Z: p. Death
follows from the disease in few days.
| BARNES
| Tile Oriental Bea-Ths was simply mat
| or blanket which could be carried in the
| hands The poor sometimes had no other
bed than the outer garment The Weather
people in the East have quilts or mattresses
filled with cotton, which are spread on The
floor or on the divan. In tho text the paral-
ytc, being healed, was told to take up his bed
and 50 home. All be had to do was TO roll up
his blanket and depart b similar incident
took place at the pool of bethesda (=ee John
5: $, 8, II. 1a>, On such SIMPLE beds" the
| sick We're eas.iy carried. This is referred to
IN Matt 9: 2; Mark =: 3, i; Luke 5: Is: Acts
! ): 10
Eastern Houses There was such dense
| could not force their way through it. and
| therefore they went to the roof of the house,
| broke up part of 1t, and let down the sick man
from above. The following considerations
may make this act ineligible We must BAN
lsh from our minds every form of European
| or American houses. 4 hose of Capernaum
as is evident from the ruins, We're, like those
OF modern villages in til same region low,
| Very low, with flat roofs reached by u stair
way from thu yard Or court Jesus probably
stood III the open lewan. aud the crowd were
around and III fro of il m, Those who car
red The paralvuc not being able $50 come at
| MIN loF tilc press, aSccn lea 10 the roof
moved so much of it as was necassarv ana let
down their patient through the aperture. Ex-
! anime one OF these houses anu You see ut
once that the thing Is natural, and easily &C
compIlshcd he roof is only Il few feet high,
and by STOPPING down, and holding the cor
ners OF the coucl-merely llicklv padded
| quit, rs at present i'll this reg ion-they could
let down the sick man without any apparatus
OF ropes or cords to assist them. And thus, |
suppose. they did The whole affair was the
| cXtemporaneous device of pluiu peasants, ac-
customcd to open their roofs and let down
| grain, straw and other articles as they still do
i'll this country (lhomson).
| GeryeSo also called GAdara). There is not
much donb. about GeryS1 1t is coming to
! he Regarded as Identical with Chersa or Gersa,
| on the eastern shore of the sea, and on the
border OF the district OF province which took
| its name from Gadara, one of the chief cites
| OF Decapois. Mark and Luke say Gadarenes
ana some manuscripts have that word in
| Matthew. The variations i'll the manuscripts
OF me three evangelsts are numerous. The
| city referred to, 1t is thought by many, could
! hardly have been Gadara which was three
| hours to the south of the southern shore of
the sea. But Dr. William Thompson discov-
| cred a Chersa or Gergcsa within few rods of
the eastern shore of the sea- A mountain
rises Immediately above it, so near the shore
| tina the swine, rushing madly down. would be
inevitably driven into the water. The RUNS
OF ancient tombs are still found in this noun
tainside, and Capernaum is III full Wow on
+.
TOPIC AND OUTLINE
Inc lesson presents Christ Ill his different
treatment Of individuals, and their different
attitudes toward him. We see o. some reject
ing him., and these he abandons w. ~; C2)
some seek INN, and these he welcomes " ~:
5) some trust him, and these he blesses
". ~; ~ some critlcise and cavi and these
he seeks to persuade and convince Tvs 2-G);
some reverenty worship him, and to these no
reveals himself more and more
In this lesson upon the forgiveness of sin.
we may we'll emphasize the importance of
1aitl as the preceding condition to blessing.
-, seeing their faith" probably referring to
t te 1a!th Of the whole five. The four have
has lalh to be brought Possibly the sufferer
prevailed on his friends to bring him to Jesus.
Chr,st seems to grant the forgiveness before
ialth makes the request, but he knew the
velop faith in each case. Here he encour
! ages, entices the faith by throwing out the
blessing; In the Of the Syro-P hnnician
woman ne provoked the faith by a temporary
Ml sll1'.S OF the blessing We may be sure
Jesus saw the germ of a true and strong faith
IN THIS paraytic, who thereby was ready to
receive and understand this message of for
| giveness
But the first verses of this chapter, do they
| not give us a picture of earnest pelscyerlns,
| ia til? Nothing battles or defeats it. INT Il
| develops tTue to its naturc) in inventlvcncss
| tply
TO secure forgiveness we must find Christ:
to hn'i Christ we must have faith. True faith
~ seeks Christ, C1 scorns difficulties, (3 waits
Chrlsts name, ~ promptly obeys Chrlst's
command, % submits entirely 10 Cmisrs
| method.
While thus emphasizing the necessity of
faith, and affirming ITS power, We need con-
stantly to remember that 1t is but the channel
through which forS ivcness flows 1t is the
condition OF forgiveness, but it is only the
| condition. ~
The place of faith as related 10 the salyatio
| OF others is suggested by this lesson. II is
! one form of effort on behalf of others Indeed
tits fundamental, for If that be lacking ali
| other work is vain. In some way the bai,ev-
ers faith is effective to the salvation of others
| The conduct OF these four bearing the para.
lytlc, and OF Matthew inviting his friends
| where they may meet Jesus, teach A lesson
the Christian world needs to be constantly
| Learning. They who are the called of God n "a
to be also callers to and for God
! SEED-TRuTHS AND GERM THOUGHTS
| ~. CHRIST VIII not remain with those who de-
lDerately and persstenty reject him ". y.
Ii we choose demons and swine we vii,
| not desire CHRIST w. ~. wv WI
.. Faith will lind its way to Christ ". .,
4. True faith Is rewarded beyond it's own
| expectation ". y. " o"A
!